Foreign experts arrive to prepare Phl vs Ebola

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign experts on infectious diseases are coming to the Philippines to train doctors and health workers on how to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

World Health Organization country representative Julie Hall said a WHO specialist on public health and health experts from US-based Johns Hopkins University and the International Committee of the Red Cross are arriving in Manila to conduct a three-day training on Ebola infection prevention starting on Oct. 28.

“These experts will provide training to help Filipino doctors and other health workers easily identify Ebola cases and what to do to prevent the infection from spreading,” Hall said in a press conference yesterday.

Doctors, nurses, medical technologies and other health workers will be taught how to properly wear and remove personal protective gear.

Department of Health (DOH) spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said the government, with assistance from the WHO, is initiating the specialized training program on Ebola disease prevention. 

“The training will be in three batches, the first composed of doctors from government-run hospitals, followed by those from private hospitals and the last batch will be for health workers from medical facilities under the different local government units nationwide,” Lee Suy said.

Health workers from Armed Forces of the Philippines hospitals will also participate in the three-day training since these facilities will be used to quarantine Filipino peacekeepers coming home from Ebola-plagued Liberia, Lee Suy added.

Experts believe that a health worker in the United States got infected with the virus due to breach in removing personal protective equipment after providing health care services to an Ebola patient.

There is still no available treatment against Ebola disease, but Hall said Ebola patients have better chances of surviving if they are given hydration therapy as soon as possible.

She noted that most of Ebola patients who died in West Africa suffered from dehydration.

But the WHO gave assurance that the Philippines has a strong health system and is well capable of providing good fluid management, so a possible Ebola patient in the country has better chance of survival.

“Globally, Ebola has 50 percent fatality rate but we do not want to see it here, so we are doing everything so we will not have any fatality due to Ebola,” Lee Suy said.